1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system for obtaining predetermined information about a vehicle. Particularly, the present invention relates to a method that reads information from a memory built into the vehicle and provides the information to an analyzing device or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an event data recorder (EDR) is known, which is built into an automobile to record information relating to driving (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2008-310764). When the event data recorder detects a shock (impact) with a predetermined level or higher using an acceleration sensor, it stores in ROM (read only memory), information output from devices incorporated in the automobile before and after a time point when the shock is detected. By analyzing the information stored in the memory, it becomes possible to understand abnormal states different from normal driving states of the automobile, such as a shock with a predetermined level or higher, rapid braking, or a rapid change in a vehicle speed. Based on the abnormal driving states, driving situations can be analyzed.
However, in the above stated system, to obtain the information from the EDR, the automobile must be transported to a particular facility such as a maintenance company, a computer must be connected to a diagnostic connector of the EDR, and data (information) must be downloaded from the memory to the computer. Transporting the automobile to the particular facility is troublesome. If the automobile suffers from some failure or damage, it is unable to go to the facility under its own power. Thus, in many occasions, it is difficult to move the automobile to the facility.
As a possible solution to this, the data may be downloaded from the memory of the EDR using a portable device such as a laptop computer. In that case, information downloaded to the portable device might be re-written inadvertently, or a portion of the information might be missing. If the credibility of the information becomes impaired in this manner, the driving state of the automobile may not be analyzed accurately.